


broad-shouldered beasts

by thephanlock



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: ? - Freeform, Alex dies, Alexandria Safe-Zone, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Desus - Freeform, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Jaryl - Freeform, M/M, Past Abuse, Past Child Abuse, Post-All Out War, Post-Saviors, Post-War, Pre-Slash, The Hilltop (Walking Dead), darus - Freeform, he's only mentioned but yeah, kind of?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-19
Updated: 2017-04-19
Packaged: 2018-10-20 22:54:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10672470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thephanlock/pseuds/thephanlock
Summary: He probably would’ve left Alexandria tonight anyway, with or without Paul. He wasn’t too fond of parties. Though, he had to admit that it was significantly better now that Paul was sat beside him, even if they weren’t saying a word, just sat in silence.Daryl knew that meant something but he wasn’t in the mood for thinking too hard about it right now. So instead, he just held Paul a little tighter and looked out along the skyline, trying to figure out where everything was.





	broad-shouldered beasts

**Author's Note:**

> Basically, they help each other through the losses and the aftermath of the war with the Saviors.
> 
> Based loosely on the song "Broad-Shouldered Beasts" by Mumford and Sons, which you can listen to [here.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XvYIROnGps)

**broad-shouldered beasts**

 

_ “But when you feel the world wrapping round your neck, _

_ Feel my hand wrapped in yours. _

_ And when you feel the world wrapping round your neck, _

_ Don't succumb. _

_ But it's alright, take it out on me.” _

_ - _ Mumford & Sons,  _ Broad-Shouldered Beasts. _

 

The night was in full swing by the time Daryl knocked on the door of Paul’s home, a shooting pain going from his knuckles to his fingertips from the force he’d applied - a little too much - but it was to be expected with his hands shaking, heart pounding so hard he had lost the ability to hear.

All throughout the safe zone people were partying, celebrating their independence day as the Saviors had, at last, been defeated. Daryl, on the other hand, couldn’t find it within himself to dance and drink as though there were no fresh corpses laid six feet under, no loved ones they were forced to bury at the hand of a barbed-wire bat or the bullet of a gun.

Tonight was the start of a new world - a braver, less brutal, more forgiving world if Rick Grimes had anything to do with it, which Daryl hoped he did. But at the same time, it meant the end of the old world, the book closing on the final chapter of the days at the farm and the prison and now, Alexandria, opening to Hilltop and the Kingdom.

Though, he wasn’t sure he would miss the days he spent glancing over his shoulder, constantly anxious that a Savior, or even worse  _ Negan,  _ would be stood there watching him,  _ laughing  _ at him, ready to recapture him and throw him in that cell.

As the door opened, it seemed as though Paul had a similar opinion. Within a second, Daryl could tell that he was far from okay, his eyes red and puffy from rubbing them too much, from crying too hard. 

Unwarranted and definitely unwanted, the image of Paul pulling a man’s body from the crossfire popped into Daryl’s mind. He remembered helping him carry the unconscious man away, grabbing his ankles as Paul grabbed his wrists, before he fell to the ground beside him, leaning over him with tears streaking his cheeks.

He remembered the sounds of crashing and screams coming from Paul’s home, echoing through the street as everyone pretended not to hear, looks of sympathy on their faces. All those except his family.

“Daryl,” Rick called from his porch, where he stood with Judith in his arms. She wasn’t a baby anymore, far from it but Rick liked to coddle her even now as though she were. He was still trying to protect her now, even though she could walk and talk. “Check on him?” He asked, more of an instruction but not  _ really,  _ and so, Daryl stood on his front step with the bike at his side.

“No questions, just get on.” Daryl said as he hopped onto his motorcycle and kicked it into life. A few seconds passed before Paul swung his leg over the bike and sat on the back, hesitant and a little apprehensive, the pair of them riding out through the gates of Alexandria without so much as a glance back. 

For as long as Daryl could remember, this had been an escape, his way of getting out, of forgetting reality for at least a little while. He remembered the days when his father would come back a little  _ too  _ drunk and far too angry. He remembered Merle grabbing him by the wrist and shouting at him to get on his bike, harsher than he’d meant to but with nothing but good intentions. He remembered the pair of them rushing away from their home for a while, letting things cool down a bit, staying out of the way.

He remembered Merle teaching him how to ride a motorbike as soon as his feet could reach the pegs.

Even now, he still wasn’t sure what it was about riding the bike that made him feel so calm. Perhaps, it was a combination of many things, every little thing that, on their own, would go unnoticed; the wind through his hair and the breeze brushing past him as he sped up, the smell of burning rubber being cast behind him, the blanket of stars - the only consistent presence every night as the noises of nature around him were constantly changing. 

Maybe it was the feeling of being in control of the bike, of  _ something  _ when he could feel the world around him crumbling in his fingers.

The gentle, and probably unintentional, tightening of Paul’s arms around his waist snapped him back to the here-and-now with a slight jolt. After driving for who knows how long, Daryl still had no idea where he was taking them, until a place popped into his mind, somewhere he’d spotted on one of his runs, long abandoned and somehow missed by  _ most  _ walkers.

Daryl thought about asking if Paul was okay, realising that they’d both been pretty much silent for the entire trip, then thought against it.  _ Stupid question,  _ he argued,  _ he’s just lost someone, of course he’s not okay. _

And if anyone knew about loss, it was Daryl.

Not a moment too soon, the hill Daryl had been thinking of drew closer. More gentle than he usually would be, he pressed the brake and the bike drew to a stop. Paul jumped off first and in that moment, Daryl looked at him,  _ really  _ looked at him. His blue eyes were no longer filled with some kind of mischief and playfulness, instead they looked distant and sombre, exhausted with the weight of the grief he was being forced to carry in this new world.

“C’mon, we’re goin’ up.” Daryl said, starting the climb up the hill, not stopping until he found a spot near the top where they could sit. Legs stretched out in front of him, Daryl glanced along the skyline at the scenery below them, so much darker than it used to be but in some strange way, even more beautiful. “D’ya wanna talk about it?”

“About what?” Paul asked, eyes seemingly scanning the same scene that Daryl’s eyes were drawn to. There were no longer as many glaring streetlights, nowhere near as many light bulbs shining from within buildings and only the odd car would drive along a road with its headlights on. Compared to what the town used to be like, it was almost a ghost town. It was simpler, less complicated, more real.

It felt like, for the first time, they were experiencing what life was  _ really  _ about.

“Don’t,” He replied, which was Daryl talk for ‘you can talk to me, you know that’ - luckily, Paul seemed to be one of the few people left who was fluent in that language. “That man, who was he?” Daryl continued, pushing it a little further but knowing that he couldn’t force Paul to say anything if he didn’t want to.

“His name was Alex. He was my ex-boyfriend.” Paul answered, flinching a little at the use of the word ‘was.’ “I wasn’t in love with him - not anymore - but I  _ loved  _ him, you know?” He said, almost getting through the sentence until his voice cracked near the end, emotion getting the better of him. For a moment, Paul fell silent, his eyes filling with tears at the memory of Alex in the crossfire, of all the times they’d promised to keep each other safe, of that one crucial moment when Paul had failed to do so.

Unsure of what to say, Daryl reached over and placed his arm around Paul’s shoulders, a  _ sort of  _ hug, an attempt to comfort him, to let him know that Daryl understood the pain he was going through. He’d told him about Beth, about how she’d been taken in the woods, about how he’d searched for her for weeks and just as he saw her again, she’d been taken away from him. 

Even though Paul jumped a little, startled by the contact, he didn’t push him off. In fact, he leaned into the embrace and didn’t say anything else for a while, grateful for the brief silence.

“I’m sorry,” Daryl whispered, voice hushed for fear of disrupting the calmness the atmosphere held. “There ain’t nothing you could’ve done that you didn’t already do. This ain’t your fault.” Paul nodded, his head brushing against Daryl’s neck as he did so.

“I know.” Paul murmured, looking up at the stars and finding it easier to do so now that there wasn’t as much electricity around. “Thank you for this. I, I couldn’t watch everyone celebrate tonight, not after everything we lost today. I needed to get away, so thanks.”

“Me too,” Daryl mumbled in reply. He probably would’ve left Alexandria tonight anyway, with or without Paul. He wasn’t too fond of parties. Though, he had to admit that it was significantly better now that Paul was sat beside him, even if they weren’t saying a word, just sat in silence.

Daryl knew that meant  _ something  _ but he wasn’t in the mood for thinking too hard about it right now. So instead, he just held Paul a little tighter and looked out along the skyline, trying to figure out where everything was.

“I can see home from up here,” Paul said, as though he’d read Daryl’s mind, his tone surprisingly lighter than it was before. Daryl couldn’t help but feel a little happier about that. “It’s there, if you’re looking for it.” He pointed it out but when Daryl followed the direction in which Paul’s finger was pointing, he was surprised to find not Hilltop, but Alexandria. 

“Oh yeah, I see it.” Daryl said, feeling his heart skip a beat at the mention of Alexandria being what Paul considered his home, the same man who weeks earlier had told him he’d never felt as though he’d  _ had  _ a real home, always just floating from place to place. Daryl could relate.

And in that moment, Daryl decided to be the one to make sure neither of them ever felt that way again.

**Author's Note:**

> My tumblr is [stillsanvers](https://stillsanvers.tumblr.com) if you want to scream about these two or The Walking Dead in general, I'm always up for that.
> 
> Thanks for reading! Don't forget to leave a kudos and/or a comment, they make my day.


End file.
